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August 28, 2009

G128: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 5

Johnathan Papelbon loads the bases with one out in the ninth, but strikes out the next two batters for the save.

The winning pitcher (Okajima, 3 pitches) and losing pitcher (Brian Tallet, 7 pitches) each faced only one batter. Jeemer got the last out in the eighth once play had resumed and Tallet walked Ortiz to start the Boston eighth.

The Sox went ahead on Casey Kotchman's fielder's choice -- after David Ortiz had walked, Drew doubled and Varitek was intentionally walked. Kotchman's hot shot was to the right of Lyle Overbay at first base; it rolled away from him and his only play was to second base for the force, as Flo scored.

The Yankees beat the White Sox 5-2 in 10 innings and the Twins held on to beat the Rangers 3-2, so Boston remains 6 GB in the East, but is now 2.5 GA of Texas in the Wild Card.

11:01 PM: Game is back on, after a 49-minute delay. And Okajima strands the runner.

10:12 PM: Rain delay with two outs in the top of the eighth and a runner at third base.

Beckett (5-5-5-5-9, 108) did not have it for the third consecutive start, throwing 80 pitches in the first three innings. He allowed a three-run homer to Aaron Hill and a two-run dong to Rod Barajas.

Boston got five hits in the fourth and RBIs from J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek and Jacoby Ellsbury. Jason Bay tied the game in the fifth with his 29th home run.

That's the damage done to Beckett in his last two outings by the Blue Jays (August 18) and Yankees (August 23). It came as a bit of a shock, as in 16 starts before those outings, Beckett had a 1.93 ERA over 116.1 innings. John Farrell insists there is nothing physically wrong.

Jacoby Ellsbury hopes to play tonight after suffering a left high-ankle sprain last night. Francona was "hopeful" LBJ could play and said the injury didn't seem to be "anything more than a nagging thing".

362 comments:

MFY interested in Penny, and Damon approves:"He's got good stuff. His secondary stuff might need a little tweak, but his fastball was electric. It cut and he hit his spots with it. Bring him here, why not? I love the way the guy competes."

The MFY also put in a waiver claim on Chris Carter, who Boston is sending to the Mets in the Wagner deal. Looks like a dick move out of spite.

Looks like the MFY claim hampers the Sox roster a bit (Carter has to remain on the 40-man but cannot be used), but it really fucks over Carter, since he can't play baseball at all. The trade will be completed at the end of the season.

Cactus: Jason Varitek - On August 15, 2009, as the Rangers stole eight bases in eight tries on Varitek, Kevin asked: "Can we just sit a cactus behind home plate? I think it would have more luck throwing out runners..."

Yeah, like that time she had to kill Angel even though she loved him, because he had turned evil and wanted to destroy the world, and right after she stabbed him with a magical sword he became good again, just in time to make her cry and cry and cry...

obrien saying (like a 8 yo) hey if drew hits a home run here, beckett can geta win.

Oh, I really hope so. Because it's not about pitching well, it's about winning and doing the little things and not trying to do too much, and as long as the offense scores enough he pitched well enough to win, so he should get it.